Cortés stays twenty days in Tlaxcala, giving…

Cortés stays twenty days in Tlaxcala, giving his men time to recover from their wounds.

Cortés seems to have won the true friendship and loyalty of the senior leaders of Tlaxcala, among them Maxixcatzin and Xicotencatl the Elder, although he cannot win the heart of Xicotencatl the Younger.

The Spaniards agree to respect parts of the city, like the temples, and reportedly take only the things that are offered to them freely.

Ocotelolco is one of the four towns that form the state of Tlaxcala.

Its ruler, Maxixcatzin, is instrumental in forming the alliance between Tlaxcallan and the Spanish force against the Aztecs.

Xicotencatl, who is very old and of poor health, is instrumental in aligning the Txlacala with Cortes' Spaniards.

Tlaxcalan historian Diego Muñoz Camargo will write of him that he was more than one hundred and twenty years old and that he could only see Cortés if he had someone lift his eyelids for him.

He also writes that he had more than five hundred wives and concubines and consequently a large number of children.

His Nahuatl name is sometimes also spelled Xicotencatl and means "Person from the bumblebee edge place".

He is the ruler of Tizatlan, one of the four confederate altepeme of the Tlaxcallan state, of which Xicotencatl the Younger is considered to be the de facto ruler because of his father's weakened health.

Xicotencatl II is known primarily as the leader of the force dispatched from Tlaxcallan to intercept the forces of Cortés and his Totonac allies as they entered Tlaxcallan territory when coming inland from the Veracruz coast.

His actions are described in the letters of Cortés, the "Historia Verdadera" of Bernal Díaz del Castillo and in the history of Tlaxcala written by Muñoz Camargo some decades later.

As before with other native groups, Cortés preaches to the Tlaxcalan leaders about the benefits of Christianity.

The Cacques gives Cortes "the most beautiful of their daughters and nieces".

Xicotencatl the Elder's daughter is baptized as Dona Luisa, and Maxixcatzin's daughter is baptized as Dona Elvira.

They are given by Cortes to Pedro de Alvarado and Juan Velazquez de Leon respectively.

Another of Xicotencatl‘s daughters is baptized as Doña Lucía; she will marry Jorge de Alvarado.

Legends say that Cortés persuaded the four leaders of Tlaxcala to become baptized.

Maxixcatzin, Xicotencatl the Elder, Citalpopocatzin and Temiloltecutl receive the names of Don Lorenzo, Don Vicente, Don Bartolomé and Don Gonzalo.

It is impossible to know if these leaders understood the Catholic faith.

In any event, they apparently had no problems in adding the Christian "Dios" (God, in Spanish), the lord of the heavens, to their already complex pantheon of gods.

An exchange of gifts is made and thus begins the highly significant and effective alliance between Cortés and Tlaxcala.

Meanwhile, ambassadors from Moctezuma, who had been in the Spanish camp after the battles with the Tlaxcalans, continue to press Cortés to take the road to Mexico via Cholula, which is under Aztec control, rather than by Huexotzinco.

They are surprised Cortes has stayed in Tlaxcala so long "among a poor and ill-bred people".